Villain had semi solid stats but his short stack didn't make me think too much of him. Does anyone else seem to have a problem pushing too hard against a short stack thinking "i can only lose so much and since they are short, they might be pushing weaker hands because they could only lose so much."

Was this play really that bad?

Party Poker No-Limit Hold'em, $0.5 BB (9 handed)

MP1 ($19.15)
MP2 ($10.45)
MP3 ($52.45)
CO ($94.82)
Button ($50.75)
SB ($17.05)
BB ($51.35)
Hero ($49.5)
UTG+1 ($10.4)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with , .
Hero calls $0.50, 1 fold, MP1 raises to $2, 6 folds, Hero calls $1.50.

Flop: ($4.75) , , (2 players)
Hero checks, MP1 bets $5, Hero raises to $20, MP1 calls $12.15 (All-In).

Turn: ($41.90) (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: ($41.90) (2 players, 1 all-in)

Final Pot: $41.90

Results in white below:
Hero has 9h 9s (two pair, nines and eights).
MP1 has Kc Kd (two pair, kings and eights).
Outcome: MP1 wins $39.05. Hero wins $2.85.

Well, if you're going to raise, which seems reasonable in this scenario, you're only option is going to be setting him all-in, I think you're just overanalyzing it because it was an "All-In" and it went to showdown because of that so you aren't giving yourself enough credit. Think about if the guy had a deep stack, he makes the pre-flop raise, flop comes down the same, he bets his $5 you raise to $15 or whatever you like and he goes over the top for a considerable amount which will put you all-in for lets say, $50 more....ok you fold, done deal, this situation doesn't afford you that opportunity which is why it gets more scrutiny. I do know what you mean though when you get that "I can only lose $XXX mentality." In short, I don't think there was anything completely out of line here. I may have folded to the flop bet, I may have raised, it's all situationally dependent but I don't have a problem with the way it turned out.

I have the same problem with short stacks. You just have to know the player, there are a few who play short stack but play very tight and well. For some reason they think they'll get called more easily and are happy making $20 on a KK.

Overall though I think I'm way positive against short stacks. They get all in preflop with AT, AJ and I get them with AK or a pp. But you need stats to see how they play and then take advantage of that.

On this hand, your preflop call is marginal, because he doesn't have enough money. I try hard not to give short stacks action with small pp, they don't deserve it. With AA-JJ, AK I reraise them and get them all in on the flop.

On the flop I'm not sure if I would call an overbet. But then again, against the maniac short stacks I see every day this play will win you money overall.